After lady_curmudgeon's doctor appointments in Kenosha this morning, she and I made our way to Antioch to hang out with roho and enveri. We met up for lunch at The Lodge, had a beer or two and then went back to the house of CheeKitty. That's where Curmudgeon and Kes hung out while Roho and I went off to the gun range. I was smart and, before 'mudge and I left home this morning, I loaded up my range bag with the Blackhawk, the Sigma SW40F, the Sigma SW9VE and the PT-1911, as well as 100 rounds of each of their respective ammunitions (.357 Magnum, .40 S&W, 9mm and .45 ACP) and tossed the bag in the car. I had every one of my pistols with me to play with at the range, and I meant to give them all a little exercise (as well as give Roho a chance to try them out).

While Roho set up his Sig I unpacked my bag and opted for the SW9VE first. 8 rounds later I was reminded why I'm not overwhelmingly pleased with the Sigma series -- my grouping was for utter shit. All over the target, hardly any in the key spots. I put the 9mm aside and loaded up the PT-1911 next. What a great, fun gun that is. This was my first time firing it since I brought it home months ago. Solid feel in the hand and a fine grouping. What a light trigger break that gun has! Roho was likewise surprised at just how little pull it took for the hammer to fall.

Third up was the Blackhawk, probably my favorite revolver of all time. I grew up with this gun around me and have always been fond of it. I'm not sure, but I think I caught Roho drooling once or twice when I looked back over my shoulder. Everything I remembered about that gun was true! Pity that my brains and instincts have been ruined by years of semi-auto, after I fired the first round I squeezed the trigger again and had a "derp" moment where I couldn't understand why the gun didn't fire. Yeaaaaaah, it's a single-action revolver, firing require a bit more involvement on the operator's part than "aim, squeeze trigger, repeat." Roho had a good laugh at me over that but overall was impressed by how nicely the revolver handled.

Last up was the SW40F, the .40 S&W twin/precursor of my SW9VE. It suffers the same curse as the 9MM, just with bigger rounds and a little less flash since it's all-black. Shit for grouping, even when using the built-in laser. Roho similarly had problems with it and commented on the way back to his place that it's doing him the disservice of biasing him against the Glocks that the S&W folks stole design ideas from when making the Sigma series. Roho and I both suspect that the heavy trigger break of the dual-action only (DAO) is what's screwing us up. Interestingly, the range master suggested that my tendency towards lower-left groupings on the Sigmas was due to flinching, but I call flinching bullshit since my targets with the .357 and the .45 evidenced none of this down-and-to-the-left behavior.

Regardless, Roho got to try all of the pistols I brought with (minus the 9mm, which he's fired before) and echoed my frustration with the Sigmas -- as well as my praise for the Blackhawk and the 1911. All told we were at the range for nearly 2 hours and put somewhere on the order of 300 or so rounds down the lane. It's nothing amazing in terms of rounds fired or time spent on the range, but it was a great stress relief and a lot of fun. I enjoy going out shooting with Roho and miss the days on the farm when I could just wander into the back fields and plink away.

I am seriously considering taking up shooting as a form of stress relief. I hear nothing but good things about it from the people who do it and I've worn through all the reasons why I told myself before I shouldn't.

That's part of what I'm apprehensive about, the "being safe" part. I mean, growing up on the farm, sure, you could just go out and unload a whole clip from the M1A1 into some hay bales and not worry about hitting anything important if you miss, but once you're in someplace enclosed or with other people in it you have to be more careful...

The Sigma's rep is the reason I didn't consider that line when I was looking for a semi auto. However, I think the trigger mechanism between those and the Glocks feel way different. The Glock 17 was one of the more comfortable semis I've fired. However, I eventually opted for the Smith M&P45. I've not got a lot of range time with it yet, but I love how it feels. There's a gunsmithing service to reduce the trigger pull on this line as well that I might opt for one day. Smith "fixed" the Sigma rap with this line of semiautos.

Though, I hear ya' on the Blackhawk! I'm definitely a big fan of revolvers over semiautos, and I only fire my Smith 686 in SA. I've gotten quite good with it, and trust it enough to make it the bedside firearm. Bought it in '89 and its as fine as the day I bought it, even after thousands of rounds. Though, granted most of those range rounds are .38 Special, and I've fired very few actual .357.

You might want to look into replacing the trigger disconnecter in your glock with one of the aftermarket ones. It's a cheap upgrade, around $25 or so if you do it yourself, $50 if you have a gunsmith do it... but it makes the trigger of a glock feel like pure butter.

I was always happy doing competitive shooting with handguns, but it seems as I get older, I am slowly migrating more toward rifles. Anyhow, if you two ever come down to florida, I'll take you out with my collection...

Sigma is not a range gun. Sigma is the gun equivalent of a disposable lighter, it's a plastic thing there when you need it for rightnow self defense from about ten to fifteen feet away, but it isn't going to do anything overly impressive otherwise. That's what stuff like a good 1911, SIG or other is for! (Try an HK P7. Freakin' laser beam accurate.)

Feren: I'm having a day where I'm doing okay but still want to knock somebody's teeth in with a steel pipe.Ashryn: You always have those days <3Ashryn: It's your natural mode of operationFeren: ... good point.Ashryn: 'The sun is shining! Everybody's happy! You don't deserve teeth! *WHACKWHACK*'

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"A bullet sounds the same in every language."-- Stewie Griffin

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Wake me up insideWake me up insideCall my name and save me from the darkBid my blood to run before I come undoneSave me from the nothing I’ve become

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"One more brain cell and he'd be dangerous, one less and he'd be a plant." -- Garry